The Western Roman Armaments
After Talos Rome was constructed by the first Romans, they all regrouped and formed an alliance of the city states. They deployed thoroughly trained soldiers in the north western frontiers to protect Rome from further attacks. They eventually defeated the Japanese Empire and gained total control of the Italian peninsula as well as North Western Europe. The Romans were known to use complex weapons, but sometimes instead they chose to use the more simple and unusual weapons of warfare. The armor and weapons were used under excellent supervision, great leadership and discipline that enabled the Romans to create superior military forces, both regular and irregular armies including mercenaries and allies, that were able to conquer their opponents. The Different Military Groups The Roman soldiers were divided into two groups, Legionaries and Auxiliaries. Legionaries were Roman citizens whereas Auxiliaries were recruited from tribes and allies of Rome. The Roman army efficiently used their weapons during their conquests over Japan and Britain. They put forward a battle that the ancient world had never seen. They efficiently used their weapons and defeated the Japanese, further intergrating them into the Roman Fleet. It was quite evident that the barbarians were influenced by the Roman army, but they have been wiped out. Weapons of the Legionaries Dragon-Bone Gladius: The gladius, or Dragoon Sword as they called it, is the iconic short sword of the Roman army. It was adopted from the bones of the dragons slain in battle, be it a friend or a foe's dragon. In combat the gladius could be used for stabbing or slashing, although it was primarily used for stabbing. In the crush of battle that often occured when two forces pressed against each other the gladius shined. It was ideal for stabing in these conditions where longer weapons became useless due to the lack of room for long slashing swords and thrusting spears. Roman legionaries constantly practiced with their weapon of choice, learning to make thrusts into vulnerable areas of their enemies such as the groin or neck. Wind-Enchanted Pillim: The pilum is the heavy javelin used by the Roman legionnaires. Along with the sword, the pilum was one of the main weapons of the Roman military and provided each man with mobile, medium ranged artillery ability. It is perhaps one of the biggest reasons for Roman dominance of the ancient world, along with the full body shield and gladius, mainly because the speed and velocity created by the wind when thrown at an enemy. A pilum is essentially a heavy javelin featuring a long thin iron shank (neck) and heavy shaft. The relitvely thin iron shank, with its barbed tip, gave the pilum its extraordinary ability; it was armor piercing. The weight of the shaft and a weight in the shape of pyramid or ball would then punch the shaft through enemy shields and armor. The 2 foot long (60 mm) shaft was designed to be long enough to punch through a shield and into the man behind it. Hasta Wind: Hasta is a Latin word meaning spear, it was the first and last main Roman weapon. Hastae is the plural form of hasta. A hasta was about 7.5 feet long with an Imperial Gold head and a shaft typically made of ash. The earliest Roman forces fought in a phalanx style like Greek warriors using spears, however, during the Republic a switch was made to using three lines. The first two lines employed swords while the third, and final battle line, was made out of veterans using hastae. Eventually all legionaries where equipped with swords during the military reforms and standardizations. During the late empire, the Roman's infantry began to switch back to using the Hasta. The reason for this is most likely the changing nature of warfare at the time, particularly the ascendancy of cavalry. The hasta proved to be the most effective weapon against the rampaging horsemen that devastated the late empire and it was eventually reinstated as the main weapon of the Romans. Other Roman Weapons: The above weapons are the main weapons of the Roman heavy infantry man, however, the Romans employed a number of other weapons as well. For example the pugio was a dagger used as a sidearm by the roman legionnaires. It featured a wide leaf shaped blade and was about 15" long. During the first and second centuries AD, the spathea became a common weapon of choice. The spathea was a longer sword then the gladius, first used by the Roman cavalry but adopted by the infantry. During the late empire the legionaries began to carry the Plumbata, this was a weighted throwing dart. Six plubata could be secured to the back of a shield and they had a greater range then a javelin. Lead weights on the plumbata also gave it good penetration. These weapons proved extraordinarily effective for the Romans, allowing their heavy infantry to operate effectively as their own archers. It is also likely that legionaries would employ slings at times. Besides heavy infantry the Roman armies fielded other specialized troops. Their light infantry, called velites, employed light throwing javelins. These javelins had greater range then the pila, but lacked their punch. Roman archers, called the sagittarius, their normal weapon was the composite bow, made of horn and wood, and held together with sinew and hide glue. Reinforcing laths for composite bows are found throughout the Roman territory. Roman auxiliaries used a wide range of weapons, whatever the weapons of their particular tribe were what they went into combat with. These weapons could be anything from Balearic slings to Frankish throwing axes; however, I wouldn't consider these to truly be Roman weapons. The New Weapons During the reign of Johannes Ranierus, the emperor of Talos Rome, the Roman empire became military active. He sent a huge army to capture the Japanese provinces from their inhabitantss. 4 years later, the Roman General and Son of the Emperor, Prince Achillus, had destroyed the Japanese power and then marched to Italy to conquer the entire region around Talos Rome from the Ostrogoths. The Romans wiped the Ostrogoths from Italy. The Romans were witnessing great advances in military engineering. They possessed a highly disciplined military force and military technicians who contributed to the development of siege weapons that the civilized world had never seen. An incendiary substance known as Greek Fire was invented. Greek fire was sprayed from early flamethrowers on ships known as dromons. Researchers have been unable to duplicate this substance today. Ships were set aflame by the Greek fire and it had the capability to kill large number of warriors inside the ship with one shot. Some of the early devices used by the Romans were torsion powered engines used to shoot arrows with greater intensity. The Roman military engineers were learning and developing more sophisticated siege weapons. By the tenth century they had adopted engineering techniques used by the Macedonians. Category:The Western Romans Category:Pick an army